¾ol.1936 LIII] J GeneralNotes. 331

At 3.30 o'clock I met these two gentlemenat Sagamore,and by 5.30 the bird was safely secured,after such difficultieswith quicksandsand mud as are not often encounteredin New Englandcollecting. It wasan immaturemale. It is on exhibi- tion at the Boston Societyof Natural History, and apparently constitutesthe first Massachusettsrecord since 1896.--Josr.rn A. YIxGxR, Ornithologist,Massachusetts Divisionof Fisheriesand Game. Tra•s-ltlantic Flight of (•ull-billed Tern.--The record of a banded Gull- billed Tern (Gelochelidonnilotica), recoveredon the island of Barbados, British West Indies, adds another bird to the list of thosethat have crossedthe ocean. Under date of September13, 1935, the American Consul at Barbados,B.W.I., transmitted through the Department of State a copy of the followingitem, which appearedin the "BarbadosAdvocate" of September6, 1935:

"To the Editor: Dear Sir,--Pleasepublish in your paper if you think it will be of interestto your readers. A whitish bird with a wing spreadof about fifteen incheswas shot at May- nard's Swamp yesterday (September4) bearing a metal tag inscribedZool. Museum, Copenhagen,Denmark RK. 2929. This may catch the eye of someof the enthusiasticbird shooters. Thanking you, Yours truly, N. Kellman, Sand Street, St. Peter." TheBiological Survey immediately wrote to Dr. •. VedelTSning, Director of the Marine BiologicalLaboratory in Copenhagen,who is responsiblefor the banding work of the ZoologicalMuseum, and hasbeen advised that the bird in questionwas a Gull-billed Tern, bandedat Tipperne, Ringkj,•bingFjord, Jutland, on June17, 1935. The chick was at that time about one day old and Dr. T•ning reportsthat "it left its homeabout July 2 0th . . ."•' r•e venturesthe opimonthat the bird madethe trans-Atlanticflight in probablyless than a month. No tropicaldisturbances were recordedat that time in Barbados nor in the week previous to the recovery of the bird." Dr. TSningadds that "the recordwill soonbe published,"but sinceit is assumed that this will be in a Danish publicationand so may escapethe attention of most Americanornithologists, it seemsdesirable to recordit alsoin 'The Auk,' particularly sinceit may have somesignificance with referenceto the Americanbirds of this species,which, since the EighteenthSupplement to the A.O.U. 'Check-List'(Auk, 1923), has been given subspecificstanding under the name of Gelochelidonnilotica aranea.--FRm)•mcK C. L•NCOLN,Biological Survey, Washington, D.C. Little (•ulls again in l•lew York Harbor.--Every spring, from the middle of April to earlyMay flocksof Bonaparte'sGulls (Larns philadelphia) follow the wake of the Staten Island ferryboats,to feed on somethingchurned up by the screws. Ever since 1929 we have watched them with added interest, becauseof the hope of seeinga Little Gull amongthem. This year my searchwas again rewarded on the morningof May 1. Amongthe Bonaparte'sGulls following a ferrypassing us toward the souththere appearedto be two Little Gulls (Larus minutus). One of them soon switchedover to the wake of our boat and was well examinedwith glassesat about 75 yards. The otherseemed to followits example,but wasby this time sofar back as to make identificationless certain. The black underwing-coverts are alwaysthe 332 GeneralNotes. L[AukJuly bestfield-mark, provided the observeris not lookingdown on the bird, as I happened to be in May, 1929. I believethat thesetwo individualsmay well be the sameones we have beenseeing for several years. It seemsmore likely that they reachedthis region by way of northwesternNorth America than that they came acrossthe North Atlantic. Their closeassociation with Bonaparte'sGulls suggeststhat they first accompaniedbirds of that specieson their southwardmigration, and now winter with them, though they probablydo not migrate as far as the breedingground of Bonaparte'sGull. Indeed two Little Gulls which had already molted from the breedingdress were seen severaltimes betweenJuly 27 and August 27, 1933 near Great Kills on the Staten Island shore. • One was seenagain that afternoonby Marc C. Rich and at 6 P.M. by me, while on May 3 at 5 P.M. and again on May 4 Mr. Rich observedit. On every occasionit was in the company of Bonaparte's Gulls.--J,M•s P. Cu,riN, American Museum of Natural History, New York. Status of the Black-backed GulL--In the January number of 'The Auk' (Vol. 53, p. 81) referencewas made to an early migration of the Black-backedGull (Larus marinus) on the Atlantic coast as far south as southernNew Jerseyby the last of September. This note has brought forth a number of commentson the dis- tribution and migration of the bird that seemworthy of further mention. Harry S. Hathaway, of South Auburn, Cranston, Rhode Island, wrote that he observedan adult of this specieson August 5, 1935, and on almost every day thereafter until September5, whentwo adultswere presentresting on the sandfiats that borderthe southern edge of QuonochotangPond near Charleston, Rhode Island. No Black- backedGulls were seen again until September15, whena flockof twelveappeared at this sameplace. Eight of the birdswere in adult plumagewhile four wereyoung of the year. Mr. Hathaway writes: "Doubtlessthis flockwas part of a wave that was migratingon the mostfavorable wind, strong southeast,with light rain and moon full, causinghigh tides. None seen again until November 2, when one bird was in the same locality." Mr. Hathaway further recordsthat these are his earliest recordsfor Rhode Island, and he statesthat the birds normally do not make their appearanceuntil early in October. Mr. J. T. Nichols,of the AmericanMuseum of Natural History, in commentingon the early appearanceof Black-backedGulls on Long Island, New York, wrote: " . Of recent years a few individuals, adult and sub-adult, have over- summeredthere. Prior to thisit is my memorythat the first stragglersappeared the end of September. One was noted at Long Beach,Sept. 27, 1913. "On Sept. 2, 1928,I observeda bird in spottyjuvenal plumageat Mastic, L. I. (1928, Bird-Lore, XXX, p. 399). My Journal entry reads as follows: 'Observeda juvenal plumagedGreat Black-backedGull flying west to east along the beach, interestingon accountof the date. Its largesize, slow flight, whitishbelly and rump and spottedplumage noticeable,--there can have been no mistakein identity.' I have assumedthat this individual must have been a migrant, and noticedthe corre- spondencein date with that of the appearancehereabouts of the first Herring Gullsin fresh juvenal plumage." An all-day a6rial survey from a navy hydroplane, flying over coastal Virginia and North Carolinaon March 4, 1936,revealed the presenceof a fair numberof these

• Proc. Linn•ean Society of New York, Nos. 45, 46, 1935, p. 92.